Han Yue hated teaching.
Not because he failed to understand the value of passing on a technique, but because beginners asked too many questions, breathed at the wrong moments, and possessed the infuriating habit of not learning a lesson after seeing it once.
Lin Yuan, who understood that opinion perfectly, assigned him to the outer courtyard to train six new disciples in stance, footwork, and basic qi control.
—This is punishment for something I have not done yet —Han Yue protested.
—Consider it prevention —Lin Yuan replied.
Jian Mu, practicing cuts several steps away, did not raise his eyes.
—It is sensible.
—You are not part of this conversation.
—You just spoke to me.
Han Yue decided Jian Mu's silent period had been a better age.
Among the new disciples was a youth named Ren Bo, a former aspirant of the Grey Cloud Sect. He had not been accepted as an inner disciple and, after several months as a servant with no prospects, had abandoned the mountain. He arrived at the Primordial Firmament Sect carrying an awkward mixture of shame and pride. He knew more theory than the others, but he was also accustomed to measuring everything according to the prestige of the Grey Cloud Sect.
—The spear stance you are teaching leaves the flank too open —he said during the second exercise.
Han Yue planted the butt of his spear against the ground.
—Would you like to prove it?
Ren Bo glanced at the others before answering.
—I am only saying that the Grey Cloud Sect taught us a tighter guard.
—And yet you ended up here.
The verbal blow landed immediately. Ren Bo flushed.
Lin Yuan watched from the terrace without interfering. He had asked Han Yue to teach precisely because the young man needed to learn that leading was not the same as overpowering. But he also knew Ren Bo was searching for boundaries.
—Again —Han Yue ordered.
The disciples repeated the stance. Ren Bo deliberately closed his shoulder too far.
Han Yue corrected him with the end of the spear.
—More open.
—You said my guard was weak.
—I said your balance was garbage. Your hearing appears to be following the same road.
Several disciples hid smiles. Ren Bo stared at Han Yue.
—At least I was evaluated by a real sect.
The courtyard went still.
Han Yue did not answer immediately.
—Repeat that.
Ren Bo swallowed, but too many eyes watched him for retreat to feel possible.
—The Primordial Firmament Sect collects rejects. That does not make it a real sect yet.
Fire qi appeared around Han Yue's body like a red breath.
Jian Mu stopped practicing.
Lin Yuan descended one step, ready to intervene, but he wanted to see whether Han Yue could stop himself.
—Take a spear —Han Yue said.
—What?
—You wanted to demonstrate a better guard. Take a spear.
Ren Bo accepted a wooden weapon. The others moved aside to form a circle. Bai Lian, crossing the yard with medicine, stopped when she saw the tension.
—Han Yue —she warned.
—Only a lesson.
The duel began without a formal signal.
Ren Bo attacked first with a correct but rigid thrust. Han Yue deflected the point and turned him with a movement of the shaft. He could have ended it there. Instead, he allowed the youth to recover.
—Again.
Ren Bo attacked harder. Han Yue blocked, struck his wrist, and pushed him back.
—Your shoulder announces the thrust.
—Be quiet.
—Your anger does too.
On the third exchange, Ren Bo feinted high and swept toward the legs. It was better than Han Yue expected. The wooden spear brushed his ankle.
Several disciples exclaimed.
Ren Bo smiled.
—It seems rejects can touch you too.
The words alone should not have been enough. But they struck years of fury in Han Yue: masters who called him a beast, sects that wanted his fire but not his character, elders who expelled him before trying to understand him. The red qi darkened.
—Han Yue —Jian Mu said.
It was a warning.
Han Yue advanced.
The wooden spear became wrapped in spiritual fire. Not a full flame, but enough to turn a training strike into danger. Ren Bo lost his smile.
—I...
Han Yue attacked.
Jian Mu stepped between them.
His wooden sword collided with the burning spear. The impact shattered both weapons. A wave of heat burst to the sides. One of the refugee children, watching near the drainage channel, stood directly in its path.
Bai Lian ran, but Su Wan acted first. A wall of frost rose before the child. The fire struck it and transformed it into scalding vapor.
Jian Mu took the remaining force across his shoulder.
The smell of burned cloth filled the courtyard.
Everything stopped.
Han Yue stared at the red mark on Jian Mu's shoulder. Then he looked at the child standing behind Su Wan. The fire around him vanished.
—I did not...
Jian Mu dropped the remains of his sword.
—You did.
The words were calm. That made them worse.
Lin Yuan entered the circle.
—Training is over.
No one argued.
Bai Lian took Jian Mu to the healing room. Ren Bo remained frozen, pale and ashamed. Han Yue offered no excuse. He looked at his own hands as though they belonged to someone else.
—Go to the side hall —Lin Yuan ordered—. Wait there.
Han Yue raised his eyes.
—Are you going to expel me?
—There will be a judgment tomorrow.
—I do not need a day to know what I did.
—The day is not for you. It is so the sect can see how it responds to this.
Han Yue walked toward the side hall. No one followed.
The atmosphere changed for the remainder of the day. The new disciples spoke in whispers. Some residents asked whether an uncontrolled cultivator inside the barrier was more dangerous than an enemy outside. Bai Lian confirmed that Jian Mu's burn was not deep, but he would need several days without using the arm.
Lin Yuan visited the healing room at dusk.
Jian Mu sat while Bai Lian applied cold paste to his shoulder.
—You could have dodged —Lin Yuan said.
—The child could not.
—Su Wan raised a barrier.
—I did not know she would.
Bai Lian frowned.
—Stop speaking as if receiving a burn were an administrative choice.
Jian Mu waited until she finished wrapping the wound.
—Do not expel him.
Lin Yuan looked at him.
—He nearly injured you badly.
—That is why you should not expel him.
—Explain.
Jian Mu considered his answer.
—If he leaves, he will remain the same somewhere else. Here, someone can force him to change.
—The sect is not responsible for saving someone who endangers others.
—You accepted me when I only wanted to kill.
The answer left silence in the room.
Jian Mu added:
—I am not saying you should not punish him. I am saying letting him leave would be easier for him.
Lin Yuan walked out with those words in mind.
He found Han Yue in the side hall, sitting on the floor without meditating. His real spear rested far beyond his reach.
—Jian Mu asked me not to expel you —Lin Yuan said.
Han Yue closed his eyes.
—He is an idiot.
—He also took your strike.
—Which makes him a greater idiot.
—What do you want me to do?
Han Yue opened his eyes.
—Expel me.
—Why?
—Because everyone else did before.
The honesty appeared too quickly to be calculated.
Lin Yuan sat across from him.
—Is that what you expected when you lost control?
—I was not thinking.
—A lie. Part of you is always waiting for someone to confirm that you are exactly the beast they named you.
Han Yue tightened his fists.
—Do not examine me like one of your broken projects.
—You are my disciple. That means your failures are my concern as long as you do not choose to turn them into intent.
—I almost struck a child.
—Yes.
—I injured Jian Mu.
—Yes.
—Then stop speaking as though there is a noble explanation.
—There is not.
Han Yue looked up, surprised.
Lin Yuan continued:
—I will not excuse you. I will also not give you the easy exit of leaving before repairing what you did.
—What does that mean?
—You will learn tomorrow.
Before leaving the side hall, Lin Yuan placed a blank tablet on the floor.
—You will not meditate tonight.
Han Yue gave a dry laugh.
—Will you forbid me to breathe as well?
—No. You will write what happened from the moment Ren Bo spoke until Jian Mu received the blow.
—I am not a scribe.
—Then learn to order your thoughts before ordering fire.
Han Yue stared at the tablet as if it were an enemy weapon. More than a beating, the task would force him to return again and again to the exact second when he had chosen not to stop.
When Lin Yuan stepped outside, he found Mu Qingxue returning up the path with dust on her robes and exhaustion in her expression. She had returned sooner than expected.
—I arrived at a good time —she said after seeing the damaged courtyard.
—That depends on how much you enjoy internal problems.
She studied the remains of ice and burned wood.
—Han Yue?
—Yes.
—Did anyone die?
—No.
—Then there is still room to correct it.
Lin Yuan looked back toward the side hall.
—I hope so.
Han Yue's spear had not wounded an enemy.
It had turned inward.
And if the sect could not learn to face that kind of danger, no outer barrier would ever be enough.